Splinters
by labyrinthofsuffering11
Summary: Clara is stuck with her family, the Doctor is in Christmas with his TARDIS. He decides to investigate the crack and gets taken somewhere completely unexpected, somewhere that will lead him into the most danger he's ever gotten into in all of his regenerations.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Right, well. This might get sort of confusing in some chapters, I suppose. I hope you enjoy the plot that popped into my head though.

_"Write drunk; edit sober." -Ernest Hemingway_

He doesn't know what prompts him to do it. He thought he was done with these cracks in time after Big Bang Two. But, who is he to deny a good adventure? Especially when he has been sitting idle for a good hundred years so far?

The Doctor had sent Clara back to her own family a hundred years ago exactly today, for a nice normal Christmas dinner, and not being stuck here with a madman with a box to protect a very dangerous town. He hoped one day she would understand. He just couldn't stand to watch them grow old, to stand over their graves. The companions he once cherished, laughed with, loved, even, all gone. No. He wasn't doing that again.

So, perhaps that is why he decided to touch what he told himself never to. He had nothing to lose.

So, so close to it now. Maybe a few more steps. Just reach out a hand. Just hold your breath. Who knows what you'll find? Who knows what will be waiting for you on the other side?

The Doctor mumbled "Geronimo," and his fingertips reached the crack. He found himself being sucked through something, like a giant straw, squeezing his body, and the next moment, he was on a normal street corner.

It was fairly quiet, a lovely day, and it seemed like Earth. He glanced around for any sort of clues, his eyes landing on a daily post box, and he glanced at the date. April 5th, 2010, London Post. So, he didn't go very far. Just a few years into his past.

In front of him, another crack appeared, this time in a different spot. The Doctor ran as fast as he could towards it, determined to find out where this one was leading.

Little known to him, a blonde haired woman out on an errands trip spotted him and followed.

He landed with an oomph! and a few seconds later than him, the blonde haired woman.

She glanced down at herself, and straightened herself up. She brushed off her jacket and looked around, blinking.

The woman looked at the Doctor. "I'm sorry, it's just, do you know where we are?"

The Doctor's throat tightened. His palms grew slick as he rubbed them together nervously. He knew that voice. He could never forget it. "Er, I'm sorry, what?"

"Oh, you don't, mate? That's alright. I just gotta look for someone."

"I didn't say that," the Doctor squeaked out. "Who do you have to look for, miss?"

"'M Rose, Rose Tyler. I hafta find the Doctor. He's gotta be around somewhere. This is his ship, yeah?"

"Yeah, this is it." He coughed into his jacket sleeve, his throat quite dry.

Rose suddenly turned to him. "You alright, mate?"

"Just fine, it's just. I-" What was wrong with him? This was Rose Tyler! Apparently. Or did he have one too many banana daiquiris at that victory party? The Doctor shook his head a few times, only to find her still there.

"Wait," she breathed, a hand going up to her mouth. "You're 'im, aren't you? The Doctor. I recognize the eyes."

"I-well, yes," he admitted, looking down at his hands.

Her mouth hung open, but her hand reached out to touch his hair. "Your hair," she said disappointedly. "Your great hair is all gone...it's a bit...floppy now, don'tcha think?"

"Oi! I like it!" the Doctor exclaimed defensively, tugging at his hair. Right now he wished it was long enough to cover his eyes completely, so he didn't have to look at his past come to haunt him.

"I didn't say it was...bad. Just-different, I suppose," Rose murmured, her hand wandering to his neck. "Oh! A bowtie! This is lovely. I quite like this."

The Doctor couldn't help himself, he laughed. "I knew you would!" Suddenly, as if he was just really seeing her for the first time, the Doctor turned as white as a sheet.

"Doctor, what's-"

"You're not possible!" he yelled. "How can you be here? How can the TARDIS be here?"

"Well, the first I can explain," Rose said calmly. "I saw you runnin' down the street, and I thought there was somethin' familiar about you, so I followed you into the crack. What is that by the way? Why was it there?"

"It's a crack in the fabric of reality. Two parts of space and time that should have never have met. I ran into them at the beginning of my regeneration. The question is: why did it appear in the town of Christmas and in Pete's World?"

""M sorry, did you say the beginnin' of your regeneration? How old are you now?" Rose's eyebrow quirked up.

"1209, to be exact."

"So, it's been-"

"300 years since I've seen you, yes, Rose Tyler."

"D'you ever, ya know, miss me?" Her eyes threatened to spill tears.

"Oh, every day! But I can't allow myself to think about it all the time."

"Was he-I mean, you-alone? You know, when he regenerated?" she asked.

"Well, its complicated, really. He was in the TARDIS, but you were the last face his face ever saw."

"He went back to see me?" Rose asked, eyes watery. "That bloody idiot. Could've created a paradox."

"Nah, I was careful, promise. I only stuck to the shadows, mostly. Went back to the beginning of the year we traveled, told you it would be a great year. You thought I was drunk."

Rose laughed out loud at that. "Of course I would think you were, wouldn't I?"

"You tried to help, but I told you I was okay. Rose Tyler, friendliest person of all planet Earth. Offers to help a potentially dangerous drunk bloke."

She sighed. "I really should go back. I have something important in the morning. John needs me."

"Oh! So, he's taken to John?" he asked, delighted.

"Well, we couldn't have him go round callin' himself the metacrisis now, could we?"

"No, I suppose not. Although, I think it has a nice ring to it."

Rose pushed against his shoulder playfully. "Let's get me back, shall we?"

"Of course! One moment!" The Doctor stood up and danced around the console pressing this lever and that.

Rose leaned against the console. "Try to get me in the right neighborhood this time, okay, Doctor?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "No idea, what you're talking about!" he sing songed at the top of his lungs.

Suddenly a loud bang came from the console, leaving the Doctor and Rose to hold on to the console for dear life. A terrible screeching came from below, and then they landed with a loud wheeze.

The Doctor checked the scanner. "Right, well. It seems we're going to take a rain check on taking you home, Rose Tyler."

"Why's that?" she asked, nervously.

"We've landed in Amelia Pond's garden."


	2. Chapter 2

AN: That chapter was kind of shoddily put together. I originally planned the beginning to be different, but realized that wouldn't tie in with the rest of the story. So, here we are. I hope you at least enjoy this chapter!

_"I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity." -Edgar Allan Poe_

"Who's Amelia Pond?" Rose asked, confused.

"The first face I saw in this regeneration," the Doctor said.

"Oh," Rose said quietly. "Why isn't she travelling with you now?" Her eyes probed his for what he knew was the truth.

He turned away from her, but popped up a few seconds later and ran over to Rose. He gathered her in a bone crushing hug and spun her around before depositing her on the floor and giving her an air kiss on both cheeks.

Rose giggled. "Well,_ that's_ new."

"So, how's John's, uh, personality been?" he asked curiously.

"Well, it's been a bit difficult. Not gonna lie. But I'm up for the challenge!"

"Oh, I've always loved that about you, Rose!" the Doctor exclaimed.

Rose blushed and coughed. "Right, well shouldn't we pop out and see what's happening?"

"Yes! Good point!" the Doctor grabbed his sonic screwdriver from the console and ran out of the TARDIS.

Rose shook her head with a smile and followed. "Allons-y," she mumbled.

As soon as the door was shut behind her, she followed the Doctor into the house.

The Doctor was in the kitchen, grinning at a little redhead girl behind the counter. "Rose, this is Amelia Jessica Pond!" he introduced grandly.

"Raggedy Doctor, you're back!" she exclaimed, running over to hug the alien.

"Yes, I am. I said five minutes, didn't I?" He patted her head.

"It's been a year," she said confusedly.

Rose looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, well, you know, the TARDIS has problems. Overshot."

Amelia looked at him like she didn't believe him. "You're starting to look like people," she told him sadly.

The Doctor bent down to be eye level with her. "I swear, Amelia. If I had control over the situation, I would have been here five minutes later."

Her eyes searched his, and seeming satisfied, she smiled. "Okay."

"Now, Amelia, this is Rose Tyler. She is a friend of mine, and she's here to help me investigate the crack in your wall."

"Okay, I'll take ya to it!" she exclaimed and pulled on the Doctor's hand

Rose followed the two of them up the stairs. They stopped in a small bedroom decorated in drawings and dolls of the Doctor and Amelia. Rose looked around open mouthed. She could only imagine what this past year had been like for the little girl. Rose was an adult when the Doctor had left her behind and she still didn't have adults that believed her stories. She could only imagine how adults would react to a little girl saying she saw the Doctor and he was going to take her away with him.

"Amelia?" she called out quietly. "Do they have trouble believing you?"

Amelia turned her attention from the Doctor to Rose. "Yes, they say he's imaginary."

Rose bent down to look at her. "They used to tell me that, too. You just don't listen to them, yeah?"

Amelia nodded. "I try not to. I've already bitten two psychiatrists for sayin' he's not real."

Rose laughed and so did the Doctor over by the wall examining the crack. He suddenly stopped laughing and turned towards Rose.

"Can I talk to you in the hall for a moment?" he asked.

"Why not here?" she asked confused.

He nodded towards Amelia.

"Is it grown up talk?" she asked.

"Yes," Rose said, "but we'll be back before you know it." She smiled at the girl and followed the Doctor into the hallway.

"There's something wrong, Rose. The crack is all wrong from last time. It used to be a warning from the Atraxi about Prisoner Zero, but now all I hear are sirens and a voice saying something about a weapon. This isn't good, Rose. The timeline is changing, and I have to find out why."

Rose grabbed his hand and squeezed tightly. "You got me again. The old team back together," she grinned.

The Doctor grinned at that. "Yeah. I'll be right back, Rose. I have to run some tests in the TARDIS, should only take a few minutes."

"Alright, I'll go keep Amelia company," she promised, returning to the girl's bedroom.

"So, who are ya to the Doctor?" Amelia asked her.

"Oh, a very old friend," Rose told her. "I used to travel with 'im a long time ago. He was-is my best friend. I used to love him, but I got another piece of him. A human piece. And we're supposed to get married tomorrow, so I have to get back to my universe."

"You're from another universe?" Amelia asked, eyes wide.

"A parallel one," she explained. "It looks just alike to this one. I still love the Doctor, Amelia. He's the same man as the one waiting for me in the other universe. He just looks different. When you found your person, you just know. And I knew it the first time he took my hand as a shop girl and told me to run. My life has never been the same, and I would never trade it for a second, Amelia. Not even getting the other him. He's my soulmate. No one else for me but him, and I think he feels the same. Well, I know his other him does, but the Doctor is a little harder to crack."

"Have you told him?" Amelia asked. "How ya feel?"

"Oh, I did a long time ago. On a beach in Norway while he was already too far away."

"But he found you again?" she asked.

"More like I found him," Rose teased. "Sometimes with men, Amelia, you have to do the chasing."

….

"I'm back!" the Doctor shouted from the doorway, hands in the air.

He heard the sound of footsteps bounding down the stairs, and a few moments later was greeted by Amelia and Rose.

"That took less time than expected," Rose said.

"Well," the Doctor rubbed his hands together. "I told you soon, didn't I?"

"Right, with you, soon could be a year," she said pointedly, looking at Amelia.

"Rose, we have to go right now."

Rose nodded and smiled at Amelia. She gave her a hug and said, "We'll meet again some day, I'm sure we will."

"Aren't I going with ya?" Amelia asked.

Rose looked at the Doctor and shrugged, but he shook his head a fraction of a second. He bent down to face the little girl and said, "I'm so sorry, Amelia, but I have to leave you again. Someone has to look after the crack, haven't they?" he paused and smiled sadly. "I'll be back again, okay?"

Amelia hung her head and turned away from the Doctor and Rose, walking back up the stairs.

"Now look what you've done!" Rose exclaimed.

"I can't ruin the timeline, Rose. You know that. I could have already changed the future and the past with this interaction with her. I can only hope our meeting goes the same when I come back, or else, this is about to get a whole lot worse."

Rose shoulders sunk in defeat and she walked on quietly ahead of the Doctor.

He knew better than to say anything when she was cross with him. But this wasn't his fault. He had to find out the cause of this and fast. Whoever was doing this, didn't care about his timestream in the slightest, or apparently humanity either.

Suddenly, he saw another crack in front of them. Only a few inches from Rose now.

"Rose, no!" he screamed.

She turned to him with a confused look on her face. "Doctor, what is it?"

"There's a crack in front of you! Don't touch it before me, who knows if we'll end up in the same place again."

She stopped and waited. One good thing about Rose Tyler, he decided, was that even if she was cross, she still trusted him.

He looked at her determinedly, and nodded. "Right, on the count of three, then?"

"Okay," she agreed easily.

"But remember, we probably won't have the TARDIS. So, let's not do anything rash."

Rose nodded in agreement. "Three."

"Two."

"One!" she yelled out and they ran into the crack together.

The same feeling hit the Doctor again, being sucked through a straw, but something was very, very wrong. Rose felt like she was moving away from him.

"Rose!" he yelled, "Grab my hand!"

"I can't!" she screamed. "Something's got me!"

"Rose!"

And then everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Well, Rose is in trouble now, isn't she? And where did the Doctor go?

_"Civilization begins with distillation." -William Faulkner_

Rose screamed as she landed on the ground, hard. She sat up very carefully, rubbing her back and looking around. She had landed in a desert, it seemed.

It was very hot, and very dry, and her throat was becoming dry very quickly.

"Doctor?" she called out. "Doctor, are you here?" There was no answer. She sighed and rubbed her head. Great, she was stranded without the Doctor, again. All she wanted was to be back in the parallel universe with her soon-to-be-husband, not chasing around a way home.

"Rose?" A voice came from the ground behind her, and she spun around quickly.

"Oh, Doctor, you did make it!" She jumped up and gathered him in a hug.

"Rose, what are you talking about? Of course, I made it. Hang on, how do you know I'm me? Actually, wait, no. Why are you here? You should be with my metacrisis. Well, my past self's metacrisis."

"Oi, you still have quite a gob, haven't you?" she teased, smiling at him.

She thought for a moment. If he didn't know how she had gotten here, he must be the past Doctor. But then where had the future Doctor gone off to? She probably couldn't tell him the full story of how she had gotten here.

"Well, you see, I got here from a crack in my universe. I followed it, and I landed at Amelia Pond's house, and then I followed that crack and it put me here."

The Doctor's face blanched. "That's not possible," he whispered. "There are no more cracks in the universe. I fixed them all, 300 years ago."

"Obviously not," she said to him.

"Where is the crack you came from?" he asked, shaking her gently. "You have to show me, now."

"It was…" she trailed off as she realized it was gone. "It's gone, now. It was just there."

The Doctor used his screwdriver on where she pointed. "I don't have a reading of anything," he frowned. "What are you?" he mumbled to the air. "Why aren't you registering?"

Just then, a bus drove by them and stopped with a wheeze right in front of them. A red haired woman and a sandy blonde haired man stepped off, yelling a "Thanks!" before turning around towards Rose and the Doctor.

Rose realized who it was.

"Doctor!" the red haired woman called, sweeping him in a hug. The man waved from behind.

"Who's this?" Rory asked, pointing at Rose.

"Rose Tyler," Amy called absentmindedly over her shoulder. "Wait," she paused and frowned, dropping her arms from the Doctor. "Are you the same Rose that came to my house?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"It is you!" Amy exclaimed, gathering Rose in a hug as well.

"Will anyone like to tell me what's going on?" Rory asked.

Amy turned around to Rory and said, "Oh, right, I'm sorry. This is Rose Tyler, she's the Doctor's…" she paused and looked at him, and he raised an eyebrow at her, "very old friend."

"I'm Rory Williams," he introduced to Rose, extending his hand. She shook it. "Amy's husband."

"Oh, you're married now?" Rose asked, surprised.

"Of course," Amy winked. "I did the chasin'"

Rose laughed.

"Is she here for the trip, Doctor?" she asked.

The Doctor stood up. "No, she just...came along, I suppose. Never mind that now. Let's go!"

"What is that on your head?" Amy asked and Rose giggled.

"Yes, Doctor, what is it?"

"A Stetson. I wear a Stetson now, Stetsons are cool."

The Stetson was short-lived however. As soon as he was done saying that, a shot rang out from behind them and Rose jumped.

A woman with very curly hair was holding a gun. She blew on the end, and smiled. "Hello, sweetie."

"And who's that?" Rose asked, confused.

"Oh, that's River Song," Rory explained.

"Right! Now that we're all here, let's get a move on!" the Doctor called over his shoulder. The group followed him to a small lake.

"Where are we?" Rose asked.

"Lake Silencio, Utah," the Doctor answered.

"You mean, we're in America?" she asked in awe.

"Yep!" he called brightly. "And we're going to have a picnic."

Rose clapped her hands together and went to enjoy herself.

…..

"So, I think our next mission is Space, 1969," the Doctor announced.

"Why there?" Amy asked.

But before the Doctor could answer, an astronaut came from the lake.

"Doctor?" Rose asked. "What's a spaceman doing out here?"

"I don't know. But whatever happens next, you do not interfere, any of you. Do you understand?"

"Doctor, what do you mean?" Amy asked.

He didn't answer, he just stood up and started to walk towards the figure.

"What's he doing, River?"

"I don't know," she answered.

They all watched him approach the spaceman, lift the helmet and talk to it. And then, the unthinkable happened. The astronaut shot the Doctor.

"No!" Rose screamed, running out to try to catch up to him. He couldn't regenerate here, couldn't die here. It wasn't possible. River pulled her back and Rory pulled Amy back.

"Remember what the Doctor said!" River yelled.

"Come on," Rose mumbled. "Regenerate!"

The Doctor looked at his hands, and the familiar golden glow started to engulf him, but then he was shot again.

"NO!" Rose screamed and broke free of River's grip, the rest of them following behind her. Tears were streaming down her face as she knelt beside him.

She hit him on the cheek. "Don't you dare do this!" she told him. "Wake up! Wake up, and tell me it's going to be okay."

Amy dissolved into tears behind her and feel on top of the Doctor's chest.

River said, "There's a figure over there. Someone's coming!" She ran over to the man.

She came back with a can of gasoline. "He said he came by order of the Doctor. He said we would need this."

Rose wiped her eyes and stood up. "Right, we've got to burn his body. It's the only proper way."

Rory said, "There's a boat over there, we can send him off."

Rose and River nodded in unison.

…

The next few moments passed in a blur to Rose. They got his body onto the boat and lit it. She watched it floating on the lake, her heart thudding inside her chest. All she wanted was to talk to John. To be wrapped in his arms, and get told everything was fine. But she was on her own, and she had to be strong. It was up to her now.

"Who are you?" she asked the man that brought the gasoline.

"Canton Everett Delaware the Third," he said. "I won't be seeing you anymore, but you all will be seeing me real soon."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

The man just shook his head and walked to his pick up truck and drove away.

The group numbly made their way to a small cafe. River was talking about the envelopes the rest of them got.

"I got 3, you and Rory got 2, and Canton got 4. So, where's 1? Who did the Doctor trust the most?" River asked.

On the table in front of them, a small blue envelope was sitting. River rushed over to it, gathering it in her hands. "It says 0. Who's 1, then?"

The group turned to Rose expectantly. She shrugged.

"I didn't receive an invitation."

"Are you absolutely sure?" River asked.

Rose looked down at her jacket. She searched through the pockets and found an identical blue envelope.

"It says 1," she said quietly. "But I don't understand. I never got this. Why is it in my jacket?"

River asked, "How did you get here exactly?"

Rose opened her mouth, about to explain when the door banged open. The Doctor was there.

"How-" she was about to ask, but instead slapped him in the cheek.

"Thank you," River said.

"Ow!" the Doctor exclaimed. "What was that for?"

"Something you haven't done yet," she said stiffly, flouncing out of the cafe.

….

"So, you got here through a crack in the universe?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes," Rose answered through gritted teeth. She stomped off to under the console.

"Rory, is there a reason everyone's cross with me?" he asked.

"I dunno. I'll go check," Rory promised, hurrying off after the girls.

Rose walked angrily towards her old room. Do you still have it old girl? She stroked the walls fondly. Her door appeared to her left and she let out a grateful sigh. She retreated into her room.

But something was off here.

She stopped when she got to the bed and lifted the duvet. A crack had appeared here as well.

"I wonder where I'll go this time?" she mused, and touched the crack.

…..

This time it was dark and slightly damp, the sound of water dripping heard faintly. She searched around until she heard voices.

Rose carefully crept around the corner, only to find the Doctor and Amy.

"Rose, I know it's you," the Doctor called out. "Time Lord, remember?"

"Rose Tyler, remember?" she called out cheekily as she met them.

"Where did you go?" he asked. "I thought your room, but you disappeared."

"Another crack," she explained. "It brought me here."

Suddenly, an astronaut like the one that had shot the Doctor started coming towards them. Amy picked up the gun off an unconscious man, and spun around to point it at the astronaut.

"What are you doing?" the Doctor yelled.

"Saving your life!" Amy exclaimed, and pulled the trigger.

Rose screamed and ran to comfort it, but the Doctor's arm stopped her.

"No, let me," he said softly. He walked over to the suit and bent down. The Doctor lifted the visor and started crying. "I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm so, so sorry."

"Doctor, who is it?" Amy asked nervously.

"It's just a young girl," he said, flipping the visor back down. "The suit had control of her."

"I was just trying to save your life!" Amy protested. "I swear, Doctor."

Rose hugged her tightly. "I know, Amy. I know. You did."


	4. Chapter 4

AN: I know that was sort of confusing. But the whole point of this story is splinters, and about Rose going through the cracks to different parts of the timeline. I promise the rest of the chapters won't be that bad, but I realized halfway through the chapter it was getting too long, so I had to create another crack.

_"There is no denying the wild horse in us." -Virginia Woolf_

Rose was in a room. It was very dark, and very cold, and she was very alone.

"Doctor?" she called out. "Doctor, are ya there?" There was no answer.

A panel from the brick wall to the left of her slid, causing her to jump and look at it.

"He's not going to save you," a woman with an eyepatch smirked.

"Who are you?" Rose demanded. "How do you know the Doctor?"

"You'll find out very soon," she taunted. "Soon you'll be very helpful, very helpful indeed."

"What d'you mean helpful? Who's us? Please! I'm alone, he's not here, just tell me!" Rose cried.

"Shhh, hush now. Seems like he leaves you a lot, eh? What about Bad Wolf Bay?"

She gasped. "How d'you know 'bout that?"

"Spoilers," the woman grinned.

"Tell me right now!"

"Tick tock goes the clock, and all the years they fly. Tick tock goes the clock, and your love will surely _die_." The woman's expression turned threatening again, and the panel slid closed.

"No!" Rose yelled. "You can't! The universe, they need 'im!"

She woke up, thrashing in her bedroom on the TARDIS. Rose rubbed the sleep from her eyes, pushing the tangled sheets from her legs and standing up. She had to ask the Doctor what the dream meant. She had to warn him. He had to know.

She sprinted down the corridor to the console room. "Doctor!" she called, and he spun around, eyes widening in surprise at her.

"Rose? What is it? What's wrong?"

She crashed into him, arms snaking around his neck tightly. "I had a dream."

"Oh, Rose," he sighed. "It was just a bad dream? I was worried it was something really wrong."

"There is!" she insisted. "I was alone in a room, an' there was this woman with a eyepatch, an' she was tauntin' me about you dyin'."

The Doctor pulled her tighter in his arms. "No one's going to kill me, Rose. I'm fine. You are safe here, Amy is safe, Rory is safe. I promise you that. As soon as we figure out what's going on, I will take you back to him."

She stiffened. "You're gonna take me back?"

The Doctor sighed. "Rose, you know I have to."

"No, I don't," she said angrily. "I just got back to the TARDIS. I forgot the rush, the beauty of space."

"Rose, it'll mess with the timelines. Just you being here is sending everything into a tizzy."

"I'm not sayin' _forever_," she said softly, causing him to wince at their word, "Just a bit longer. A couple trips."

"You have to stay until I can work out how to get you home," the Doctor said.

Rose sighed. "How did we get so complicated?"

"I don't know," he admitted, a hand running through her hair. "It used to be-easy, you and I. I think I made myself forget when I regenerated."

"I could-" Rose cut off, biting her lip.

"You could what?" he prodded.

She shook her head and leaned against the console. "Nothin', just feelin' a bit mixed up from the dreams still, I s'pose. I'm just gonna watch ya tinker, yeah?"

The Doctor looked at her for a few more moments before nodding. He set about the controls with his sonic screwdriver, and she sighed in relief that he didn't catch she was going to say something very stupid.

Because the fact was, she was very happy with John. No denying that. But it wasn't the same, without the Doctor. She still loved him, couldn't help it. No matter what he looked like, he was seared onto her hearts forever. But she couldn't right well tell him that could she? And she did need to go back to the parallel universe. She belonged with the metacrisis. He needed her, like the Doctor did. Or used to. She wasn't sure anymore.

The Doctor stood in one spot for a long time, a thoughtful look on his face. "You know," he started to say, "I think maybe the bad dreams are caused from you being back in the TARDIS."

"What d'ya mean?" Rose asked confusedly.

"Well, it's just, there could be residual energy from when you were Bad Wolf still, causing you bad dreams."

"Uh huh," she said, disbelieving. "You think the nightmare is caused by somethin' I can't even remember properly."

"The unknown always scares us," he shrugged.

"Then who was the woman?" she asked.

"Someone you met, maybe someone I met, and you saw in the timelines." A blank look crossed the Doctor's face. "Rose?" he asked warily.

"What?"

"Would you mind following me to the med bay?" he asked, concern closing his throat.

"Uhm, 'kay. For what?"

"Just want to run some tests," he smiled.

"On what? My dreams?" she asked.

"Something like that. Just come along, Rose Tyler."


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Okay! Here the plot really develops, so enjoy!

"listen there's a hell of a good universe next door let's go" -e.e. cummings

Rose lay on top of the metal table, shivering. "Doctor, will you please tell me what's goin' on?"

He shook his head, "Not yet, I just have to check something."

She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest to try to generate some warmth for herself. She closed her eyes and drifted into another dream-like trance.

…..

There was a crack in front of Rose and she touched it, she went spinning and spinning until she finally landed on the TARDIS.

"Doctor?" she called. "Where are ya?"

And that's when she knew something was very, very wrong. Instead of the Eleventh form of the Doctor, it was the Ninth.

She backed away from him.

"Rose?" he asked, like he was surprised to see her. "Are ya back from visitin' your mum already?"

"Uh, yeah!" she said nervously. "She was gonna go shoppin' and I wanted to just stay here. Came to check on ya."

He smiled brightly at her words. "Can we leave now then?"

"No!" she exclaimed, remembering her other self out shopping with her mother.

He looked at her confusedly.

"What I mean is, I promised my mum I'd be here when she got back."

The Doctor shook his head. "We could be back before she even notices we're gone."

Rose laughed at that. "Not fallin' for that one again. A certain Time Lord is rubbish at flyin' his own ship!"

He looked at her, clearly chuffed. "I know how to fly the TARDIS!" he defended.

"Right," she snickered, "Which is why it was a year instead of 12 hours I was gone?"

The Doctor looked down at the floor sheepishly. "An accident."

She smiled at him. "I missed you."

"It's only been a few hours," he said, trying to look nonchalant, but she could see the joy threatening to break through.

"I know," Rose admitted. "But it seems like years."

The Doctor crossed the room to her, gathering her wrists in his hands. "Rose, I-" He gulped.

She held her breath, wondering if she could get at least one version of her Doctor to tell her how he felt about her.

"Yes?" she asked breathlessly.

"I never loved you," he said cruelly, eyes flashing red, and his grip turning harmful on her wrists.

Rose let out a yelp of pain, and tried to twist out of his hands like she did when Jimmy Stone used to try to do the same thing.

Suddenly, the TARDIS and the Doctor faded away, his hands turning into cold metal chains instead and the background revealed itself to be an all white room.

"Let me go!" Rose screamed. "I don't know what you want with me!" Before she could let out another scream, a howl ripped from her throat, and her eyes went wide in fear. "What 'ave you done?" she whispered. "That's never s'posed to be released again."

The panel in the wall slid open to reveal the woman with the eyepatch again. "Hello, dear. And who told you that? Your precious Doctor? I think he was just trying to keep your potential down. Did you know if it's released, you could live a longer time, like him? I bet he just didn't tell you to make you leave him."

Rose sunk to the floor. "That's not true!" she yelled. "I said forever, it was a promise!"

"But did he?" the woman asked, laughing maniacally. The panel slid closed again, and Rose went deathly quiet.

…

She was awoken by a splash of cold water to her face. She spluttered and glared at the Doctor. "What the hell was that for?"

"What have you done with Rose?" the Doctor asked, the Oncoming Storm face close to hers.

"I am Rose!" she cried.

The Doctor cupped her face in his hands and closed his eyes. "Oh, Rose. What have they done to you? Such a good copy."

"Doctor? What are you talking about?" she asked, panicking.

"Shh, I know you're panicking. But don't worry, wherever you are, however far, we're coming for you, I promise."

"But, Doctor, I'm right here!" she insisted.

He shook his head sadly and pointed his sonic screwdriver at Rose. The last thing she remembered was melting.


End file.
